Child sex abuser Wayne Gillman Moonie found guilty on 15 charges

Wayne Gillman Moonie, now in his 60s, offended against boys over several decades. This photo of him was taken at a sentencing hearing in 2021. Photo / John Weekes

Sex offender Wayne Gillman Moonie has today been found guilty on 15 charges after abusing his position of trust as a family friend.

Moonie was previously sentenced in 2021 for his participation in a drug-peddling 1980s Auckland child abuse ring.

The 64-year-old was today found guilty for more recent offending committed in the 2000s.

Judge Maria Pecotic found Moonie guilty on eight counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

He was also found guilty on four counts of doing an indecent act on a young person aged under 16. He was also found guilty of doing an indecent act on a child under 12.

And he was found guilty on one charge of making an objectionable publication, and one of possessing an objectionable publication.

In 2021, Moonie was sentenced to 6 years and 5 months in jail for involvement in early 1980s offences linked to a conspiracy in which boys were groomed, trafficked for sex, plied with drugs or alcohol, and abused.

That abuse ring also allegedly involved the late Dilworth scout volunteer Richard Galloway.

In the latest case, Moonie faced a judge-alone trial.

He abused a boy aged between 10 and 14 after staying with the boy’s family.

Prosecutors said the offending happened at different addresses in Auckland and the upper North Island.

At the trial on September 9, the court heard the boy became troublesome, violent and unpredictable after suffering the abuse.

Judge Pecotic issued her reserved decision.

He was not sentenced today but the case will be heard again on December 5.

A pre-sentence report was requested.

John Weekes is a business journalist mostly covering aviation and courts. He has reported on the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry and on Catholic Church abuse since 2019 and on Dilworth School since 2021.